


A l'Orée de la Forêt

by Yurika_Schiffer



Series: The HQ!! ficlets that weren't posted on ao3 at first [20]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Spirits, Supernatural Elements, also kenma is a cat here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26363170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yurika_Schiffer/pseuds/Yurika_Schiffer
Summary: Kuroo is lonely, until he isn't anymore.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou & Sawamura Daichi
Series: The HQ!! ficlets that weren't posted on ao3 at first [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915372
Kudos: 4





	A l'Orée de la Forêt

**Author's Note:**

> [Also posted on my tumblr](https://unxpctedlygreat.tumblr.com/post/120353307199/kidskurodai-1188-w)

Kuroo lives in a house in the forest with his mother and their kitten, Kenma. He always feels lonely even if he has Kenma because, well, as much as he loves him, he’s still a cat and he’s often lazy and doesn’t play much outside.

One day, he’s playing in front of the house with a ball, at dusk, waiting for his mother to finish dinner. He throws the ball a bit too hard and it bounces on the wall and then rolls over, near trees. He goes to pick it up but when he arrives, it’s not there. He looks around, to see if it has rolled a little farther but doesn’t see it. He pouts and crosses his arms on his chest and turns around to go complain to his mother.

But when turns, he sees a boy around his age looking at him with warm eyes and a friendly smile. Kuroo is surprised, mostly because nobody usually comes to their house but also because the boy is holding the ball.

“That’s my ball”, he tells him. The boy nods and holds it out to him without a word, still smiling.

Kuroo takes it back and tilts his head, curious as to why the kid doesn’t speak. He puts the ball under his arm and extends his other hand to the boy.

“I’m Tetsurou! I live here. What’s your name?”

The boy shakes his hand and opens his mouth. Kuroo isn’t quite sure he hears him talk, but he still **does** hear him.

_I’m Daichi. Nice to meet you, Tetsurou!_

A bit dazed by a feeling he couldn’t put a name on, Kuroo smiles at Daichi.

“Do you wanna play with me?”, he asks.

 _Sure!_ the boy answers.

Kuroo throws him the ball and Daichi catches it. He throws it back at Kuroo and they go on like that for a long time.

Then, Kuroo’s mother calls him. He looks at the house and yells that he will come soon.

“Hey”, he starts, crouching down to pick up Kenma who came looking for him, “do you wanna come over and— oh?”

He looks around him, but the boy is nowhere to be found. Kuroo finds it weird and calls for him, but nobody answers. Kenma meows impatiently and Kuroo pats his head before running to the house. Well, if Daichi had to go, that’s a shame but it can’t be changed. And his stomach is grumbling and hungry.

He doesn’t tell his mother about Daichi. He gets the feeling that she wouldn’t be happy about that, somehow.

He doesn’t see Daichi until several days later. The boy is still smiling at him and still agrees to play. The way he talks still unsettles Kuroo but he doesn’t mind. He has a friend now, and it should not matter how he talks.

Daichi comes every so often and plays with him. They don’t really talk but Kuroo doesn’t mind. Having someone with him feels good and silence is not a problem.

One day, his mother sees him talking to Daichi. For some reasons, it makes her very upset. She grabs Kuroo by the arm and forces him back inside the house. She tells him not to go outside again alone. Kuroo protests and tries to argue, but his mother is serious and she never lets him win an argument anyway. So he stays inside with Kenma.

But the house is quiet and lonely again. Kenma purrs on his laps while he draws. He draws the forest, the house, and Daichi from what he remembers the boy. He’s lonely and quite sad, but he can cope with that. So he draws, he draws. He draws every day, all day. Kenma sometimes helps him, as much as a cat can help drawing. Once or twice, Kuroo laughs and has to wash Kenma’s teeth because he got crayon all over them after taking a crayon in his mouth.

But his mother sees his drawings, one day. And she is not happy again. She is angry but Kuroo doesn’t understand why. He didn’t go out, so why is his mother angry, he wonders. She doesn’t explain herself. But he isn’t allowed to draw anymore.

The house becomes lonely, quiet and boring. Kenma does things cats do, but that’s not quite as much as entertaining as it could, as it should. Kuroo wants to go out again. He misses the forest. He misses playing the ball and he misses Daichi. The boy didn’t even try to come see him, but Kuroo knows it must be because of his mother. She can be scary, when she wants to be.

One night, the house is as silent as ever. His mother is sound asleep. But Kuroo is bothered, doesn’t know why and it keeps him awake. He tosses and turns in his bed and sighs heavily. Kenma’s silent purr and snoring is not helping him calm down and for once, the kitten chose to sleep in his basket instead of Kuroo’s bed. Kuroo misses the warmth of Kenma’s small body.

He hears a creak, coming from outside. A little scared, he still finds courage to get up and look around the house. There is nothing wrong in the house, so the sound did come from the outside. He goes to the front door and bites his lower lip. He remembers his mother’s interdiction to go outside. But she wouldn’t know, right? If he is discrete enough, he can go out and come back without waking her up.

So he does that. He opens the door and takes a few steps outside. The fresh air of the night makes him shiver but after a deep inspiration, he feels good. He missed that feeling of freedom.

Then, he hears the creaking sound again. He turns his head to his left and see Daichi, smiling at him. The boy stretches out his hand for Kuroo to take it. Kuroo looks back at the door, then back at Daichi. His heart is beating a little bit faster and he doesn’t know if it’s from fear or joy. He is glad to see Daichi, and Daichi seems happy to see him too. His mother won’t be happy to see him if he goes back inside. She never talks or plays with him, anyway. Daichi plays with him.

So he takes Daichi’s hand. The boy offers him a toothy grin and pulls on his hand to lead him to the forest. Kuroo looks back at the house a last time. Somehow, he doesn’t feel scared, with Daichi. His mother has told him many scary stories about the forest and what is inside it and he was always scared because of that. But as Daichi leads him deeper in the woods, he doesn’t feel scared. He feels strong, and not lonely. He feels good.

* * *

When morning comes around, a mother finds his son’s bed empty. The cat laying in his basket isn't breathing anymore. Her tears flow and flood her face. She yells, again and again. But that won’t bring her son back.

The forest spirits never bring any kid back.


End file.
